Love it!

Love this guys stuff! I had a couple white-throated sparrows at the feeders today here in paradise. I got lots of pics to share when I get home! 

BTW-Which paradise are you visiting?  We didn't get to track your progress this time

Years ago, during the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland, I volunteered to work with a group that brought kids from Belfast to Dublin for a bit of R&R. We picked up our bunch of ragamuffins from the train station, and then had to take them to buses for the trip to the final destination.

As we walked, one little tyke cosied up alongside me and asked "Where are the turrets?" (Or at least that's what I thought she said.)

My heart sank for the poor child, having to live a life surrounded by gun turrets, tanks, soldiers. So I quietly reassured her:"Don't worry, love. There are no turrets around here."

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she clutched my hand. I am thinking by now that I have made a friend.

Her words, however, became more clear with her next statement:

"Miss! You don't have any TER-lets here? But I need to pee!!

That's how my grandfather pronounced it...he also did the "earl" for oil Brooklynism!  His father was Welsh, but his mother was Irish with a brogue as thick as soda bread, from what I hear.

Speaking of Irish brogues...in all my life the only accent I was completely unable to decipher was a woman with a Canadian-Irish brogue.  Could not understand a single word!

Regional dialects are very interesting.  Once upon a time I worked as an oversize load escort driver and ran into all sorts of accents on the CB.  One that I always found interesting was the very blurry line between a true down-east Maine accent and what is often thought of as classically Canadian.  Not much difference between Eh-ya?  and Eh?

Aaah, but the Maine (and New Hampsha) expression is AY UH 

That's the part that was funny...I had finished escorting a load of steel in Portland Maine and needed to get to somewhere in way north interior Maine to pick up a machine in the morning.  I don't recall the town...I just recall taking I-95 so far I was seeing signs for New Brunswick, then got off and went further north.  Anyway, it was late & I was yakking with any truck driver willing to talk.  Every last accent sounded exactly alike-I asked where in Maine they were from-one was from Bah Hahbah, the rest were from Quebec.  They actually joked-"can't you tell the difference between Ay-yuh and Ay-yuh?"

AKA-Regional dialects in the US...

... This particular fish got me to wondering ... on the Jersey shore where I spent my childhood summers, these fish were called "stri ped" bass (2 syllables). Is that the common pronunciation everywhere else? My uncle used to tell a story about uncovering a German spy in their midst during World War II when the spy said he was from Forked River NJ (pronounced as the 2-syllable "For ked River" but the spy said it as a one syllable word, so my uncle knew that this person wasn't really from that area.

Dot in PA

That fills in a bit of info for me...  In Northern New England, where I grew up, Stri ped had two syllables, ie: a Stri ped T-Shirt, or a Stri ped Cat.
When I got to Virginia, people looked at me funny when I said it that way, so I guess the boundary is somewhere not too far South of New Jersey  
Carol
now in WV

OK...the boundary is a bit more complicated than North/South.  I grew up in Brooklyn and, although most people don't pick up on it now, I did have a truly Brooklyn accent, with a hint of my mother's Bronx accent.  I pronounce striped as one syllable.

Regional dialects are very interesting.  Once upon a time I worked as an oversize load escort driver and ran into all sorts of accents on the CB.  One that I always found interesting was the very blurry line between a true down-east Maine accent and what is often thought of as classically Canadian.  Not much difference between Eh-ya?  and Eh?

Anyway...I ran across this very interesting map and pronunciation guide done as a hobby.  

http://aschmann.net/AmEng/

All sorts of fascinating tidbits if that's your sort of thing...like there's a correlation between a New Orleans accent and a Brooklyn accent.  Go figure!

[Better check your email Aafke....ur getting]

Better check your email Aafke....ur getting arded!

All we needed was a reminder

Sent mine in for both contests last night...

It's not working for me either...

Birdchick is doing a daily Valentine's day inspiration...this is her entry from February 3...

BBC Life: Partners for life

And today's interesting chapter...I decided to buy some whole peanuts for the squirrels, hoping it would slow them down a bit in trying to raid the seed feeders.  I didn't get a picture of the first taker-a tufted titmouse! 

A little while later one of the squirrels finally took a nut...



...and promptly buried it in the snow!

Yes, I sure did notice, and I thank you very much!  Jan in CT

I'm still tweaking it a bit.

Looks good!  It even shows the user name in the compressed view!  Very much appreciated!

Glad it didn't need rescuing...but thanks for checking on it anyway, ladies!  Better safe than sorry...excellent job! 

Ei

I already received 5 pictures for the Best Webcam Picture Contest
bguitar  Good Job!!! bguitar
I'm waiting for more.
greetings Aafke

I know I can't get any sent until this weekend...I'm sure I have plenty!

Ei

Well, here in Ulster County, NY there seems to be bands of snowmaggedon and icepocalypse...a lot of staff have called out due to the weather.  Funny thing is the staff who made it in have all said the roads aren't that bad-myself included (although I did stay over nearby last night).  So I'm waiting to see the news reports where these pockets of 3 feet of snow and 6 inches of ice happened, cause no one I've spoken to this morning has seen it.  Amazing how when we offer to come pick them up it's suddenly some other excuse.  It's health care, people.  You knew you needed to plan for bad weather when you got into the business. 

Can you tell I'm a little crabby this morning? 

Ei

Sounds like a few weeks ago here in the Shenandoah Valley area.   The manager of the Home Depot where I work (my "retirement" position...) called me on a day off to see if I could come in because he'd had several callouts due to the snow.  Maybe three inches.  I had plans so couldn't do it, but I asked him what kind of wusses we had there anyway.  Turns out that a couple of stupid motorists had done stupid things on a couple of the (many) hills out there, and the roads were blocked for hours.  Those people really *couldn't* get out.

Carol
Eastern Panhandle WV, 45° and gray

The people with the long commutes are mostly all here.  They took their time.  People never cease to amaze me.

Ei

Well, here in Ulster County, NY there seems to be bands of snowmaggedon and icepocalypse...a lot of staff have called out due to the weather.  Funny thing is the staff who made it in have all said the roads aren't that bad-myself included (although I did stay over nearby last night).  So I'm waiting to see the news reports where these pockets of 3 feet of snow and 6 inches of ice happened, cause no one I've spoken to this morning has seen it.  Amazing how when we offer to come pick them up it's suddenly some other excuse.  It's health care, people.  You knew you needed to plan for bad weather when you got into the business. 

Can you tell I'm a little crabby this morning? 

Ei